Ahimsâ (1997)

Sorry I've gone dark for a while. Let's just say there are some events in my life, which I may write about once they've passed, that are causing me to question most everything. This isn't the usual stresses in life, this is something I could never have imagined. Exciting, nerve wracking, all consuming, potentially life changing, for better or for worse, it's most certainly a before/after series of events.

Anyhow, this is not exactly a rare compilation by any means but it has been quite difficult to find through the usual channels.

Excellent, lesser known collection of 'darker' or 'experimental' sounds mid-90s style from around the world with a heavy emphasis on some Dorobo label mates. 

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F – M CDOT G (2013)

There are times in my life when I need noise. A bit cranky this morning, sort of directionless and not sure quite why so was even more irritable. The shuffle was shuffling and nothing was sticking until this one dropped.

It drives those in my house crazy (this is music how?) but for me it is therapeutic, cleansing, dusting off those cobwebs that turn introversion into selfish whining.

This isn't a Merzbow or power electronics kind of noise it's just the sound of analog and machines devoid of human emotion and that may be why it works as therapy.

From the label:

"F – M CDOT G drops 3 tracks of undiluted dark ambient on you. Recorded live at the kitchen table by the two unnamed members of this project, with minimal means and straight to good old cassette tape for that extra hum of ferro chrome. 

The three tracks, named after slight variations in Holland’s gravity field, feature machinery, contact mics, weird phone apps and field recordings and are meant to lull you in a state of mental relaxation. The tracks evoke a dark sci fi imagery of lost planets, eroded space equipment and strange streches of travel where absolutely nothing happens and all sense of time is lost."

Name your price

HERE

Ian Eccles-Smith

Cool story on this one. As anyone who has been here for a while knows, the Dorobo label has been a staple of my diet for many years now. Triggered by a fascination with Alan Lamb's wire 'music' and the Atomic Weight compilation featuring the works of Dumb Type. and Ryoji Ikeda and a bit more experimental than my usual fare, I was hooked and did a deep dive into the catalogue.

Over the years I've been in communication with many of the artists on the label and they have been more than gracious enough not only to reply and maintain a friendly dialogue they've also been willing to share music with a genuine spirit of openness that it should be shared.

The album, Clubbed 2 Death, which I discovered via the Trash Trance compilation, has always been on my radar as there has only been a 128kbps version available on Ian's website and the CD has never shown up anywhere other than a listing on Discogs. Eventually, I just shot an email to him in hopes of tracking down a copy.

Wouldn't you know, he was more than happy to not only respond but upload a lossless version to his Soundcloud page. Joy of joys! We exchanged some emails and he was kind enough to provide some back stories on a few of the releases in which he was involved, including Loggerhead's Demons In Rapture.

So, for your enjoyment, another HTCIS exclusive (kind of):

Clubbed 2 Death (1992)

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Apsilene (2003)

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Easy Tempo

Pure bliss.

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To go deeper into the mood check out

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and

HERE

Man Watching The Stars - Dusk (2014)

It's so easy to tag something 'drone' but it always misses because there is such a spectrum categorized from dark to light that makes it a useless tag.

As I often do with such a large mp3 player full I rely upon the shuffle. Was doing some studying/writing last night and it bounced through various styles until a track from this release landed and instantly brought a calm to the room. 

There is a resonance here that made it stand out instantly. 

Highly recommended if you seek some calm in the midst of the chaos of life.

Name Your Price offering, show some support

HERE

European Tribute To A Soundtrack Master

Quite hard to find, limited to a production run of 110.

Made some of the best soundtracks, and cult films, reimagined for a new generation.

HTCIS exclusive.

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Energostatic Label

I know sometimes compilations can get a bit tiresome, especially for those of us who recall the days of full albums and digging in to the 'deep tracks' that never made radio play, but these are hands down some of the best compilations in my files.

From the Energostatic label, only two of these are still available on their site. The others can be found in the archives so are lesser known and would certainly get more attention if found on their Bandcamp page.

Really good stuff.

(Click on the titles)

Noesis

Aesthesia

Aesthesia II

Hydrodubium

Vision - Full Dub (2015)

One of my favorite straight up 'dub' releases. Not to be confused with 'reggae' this is 'dub' in the sense of bare sound manipulated. 

Oddly enough it stands out because it is so bare and not busy. Something about the cleanness of the sound is therapeutic.

Not completely free but pretty close.

Enjoy

HERE

Onejiru

Discovered her here many, many moons ago. Learned of this, her only release, and sought to track it down. The album itself was not expensive but it was never available in the US so I'd be paying up yo five times or more than the price of the album for postage alone.

I have discovered lately that on amazon you can often find the same discs inexpensively and pay a lesser ship charge ($3.99) to receive albums from overseas (in this case, these both came from Germany). Much better than the $6 to $10 that shipping often costs from overseas to the US which is a total buzzkill as the market in the US isn't always friendly to musically adventurous souls.

This is a rare promo that I discovered while virtual crate digging. It wasn't listed on Discogs (is now) and only had a passing reference on one of those old warez sites.

A Few Reasons (2006) 

Prophets Of Profit (2006)

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Morner - Senselessness (2015)

Morner continues to hit my shuffle and while the sound is instantly recognizable it is also instantly satisfying. As I've learned, it is not for everyone but for those adventurous souls who are looking to expand the definition of what 'music' can be, I cannot recommend it enough.

HERE

Remixes from the track Kaisa featuring label mates from Sense/Net as well as the IMMINENT netlabel, whose catalogue continues to grow and engage, can be found 

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Daughter Of The Industrial Revolution

Of all the music that has crossed my ears over the past few years, the music put out by Demdike Stare has invigorated my love of music again.

Since circa 2007 it had been the "discovery" of Echospace that rekindled a passion for music and I became a dub techno head. As the genre filled up with imitators, duplicators and a safe, comfortable sameness developed with the sound, I noticed my interest leveling off. No more deep dives into an artist's back catalogue, just an endless repetition of shuffling. Good, maybe even great, background environment but very few moments that elevate beyond the calm comfort of familiarity.

Around 2010 or so, Demdike Stare passed into my hearing.  Much like the guys from Echospace/Deepchord have tentacles that reach deep, so too these guys. The passion has been relit.  

They have a way of putting together disparate sounds and styles and making sense of the sounds they use. They have an affinity for what might be called 'camp' but have a way of reinterpreting it in a way that gives it substance.

From techno to dub to noise without missing a beat they refuse to be pinned down.  Their music, like noise canceling headphones, has a way of calming the overactive brain, music for a post-cultural world.

Daughter Of The Industrial Revolution is one of the side projects from Miles Whittaker, half of the Demdike Stare duo, this one straight up analogue. A few of these tracks ended up on the first release under his other solo moniker Suum Cuique (also essential); his latest release under his own (first) name continues the trajectory.

Long out of print and unavailable digitally, take your brain on a bender. Good stuff.

Path Of Least Resistance (2008)

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Variable Resistance (2009)

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Heavy Dub - Cold Tear Records 6 Year Anniversary

Hard to believe it's been six years for this label. Can't recall when I first discovered it but it's been a staple of my diet since that time.

Offered as a 'Buy It Now' feature it features eight tracks from some dub heavyweights. Enjoy the sounds 

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PhonosycographDISK vs. The Filthy Ape ‎– Mooch The Moose: Smack Dealer To The Stars (2001)

One of the original members of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz crew, DJ Disk ventures out onto his own under a different alias with this little EP that I stumbled across some time ago but only had a vinyl rip minus Track 3.

Did not realize there was a CD release of this so here ya' go. Though not rare, this is another HTCIS exclusive.

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Moby - Long Ambients 1: Calm, Sleep

Not sure why this is where it is, may just be a show of support for this site which is earth friendly but for Moby to offer up some new ambient music as no charge, I'm in.

Take some time to browse the site while there and show some support if you like their ethos.

Download free

HERE

Dark Ambient of 2014 (Cryo Chamber)

Doing some work at home today that requires uninterrupted focus and since everyone is out of the house for a while I can put the mp3 player on and let it go. I am in no particular mood so put it on the shuffle. A few hours in and I find myself drawn toward the music that is playing and it picks up my mood perfectly.

As most of the shuffle has been jumping from classical to classic trip-hop to gospel to ambient to everything in between there is a sudden sustaining 'tone' to the music that slowly draws me. I walk over to see what it is and it's this mix that I've been sitting on for quite some time.

I'm not a fan of the tag (or tags in generally, really) of 'dark ambient' due to what it is often meant to imply. It's just a different shade on the spectrum.

Cannot recommend this mix enough as it's a great intro to their catalogue. Make sure that you are able to focus for the full hour and a half of the mix or you'll miss out.

Check it out

HERE

Matt & Mark Thibideau

I continue to come across these two names through various compilations and virtual crate digging. If you trace the origins you'll find that they cross paths with the Echospace camp from their earliest days under that name.

Their sound varies but I'd sum it up as sonic manipulations of the analog kind. A brief bio can be found here. They are spread far and wide so it's tough to know where to start but the obsoletecomponents bandcamp page is probably the best place to start to dig in to their sound. Most of the releases are 'Name Your Price' so there is no reason not to venture in.

A representative compilation can be found below so take a listen and track down the releases from which these tracks came. You will not be disappointed.

Enjoy

PDH Experiments

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2 8 1 4

Tagging on to the vaporwave post below, this 'group' is made up of two of the more popular, if that term is to be used, artists in the often shifting and intentionally anonymous virtual scene who make music that falls under this tag. 

It's intoxicating and I still don't know why.

You can find the origins of this mix here.

ZeECc

Officially dead as a label but living on eternally in the digital world.

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Best Of Dream Catalogue, 2814​-​2815

Can't really explain why but I love this vaporwave stuff. I think it has to do with the fact that I lived through this in the 80s and, looking back, loved it then even as I was going through the various stages of heavy metal and simultaneously moving through New Agey stuff into electronica in its infancy. 

It may explain why the irony dripping in the whole Miami Vice colored, cassette, VHS, Japan, rainy late night neon themes sounds so sweet 30 years later.

'Name Your Price' offering of a compilation of tracks from one of the more well known labels within this genre.

Besides dub techno, it's perhaps the first 'genre' that has captured my interest in a long time.

HERE

Those Awkward Origins

None of us start out cool. None of us are ever really as cool as we think. Until the drugs hit. Then we think we're cool. Until we get off drugs. Then we realize cool doesn't matter.

Back in the late 80s when 'techno/electronica' was starting to bubble up from beneath the surface, it was apparent no one was really quite sure what to do with it, including the musicians themselves.

Considering that The Chemical Brothers in 1998 won and Propellerheads in 1999 were nominated for the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental it was obvious they still didn't quite know what to do with it.

For those of us there early enough to remember its infancy and emergence from the underground, this was the beginning of the end as it was poised to be the next big thing. It more or less went back underground as the Grammy's lumped it into the blurry category of 'dance' music. But it could not be conatined. A genre was being born.

In 2005 a category for Best Dance/Elecronic album was created at which point that heinous industry derived term 'EDM' (almost as bad as the uninitiated's use of 'techno' to cover anything electronica) was pushed, marketed and more or less vomited onto the populace at large and that phase of electronic music was officially complete. It had reached critical mass and spilled over, its journey from Comiskey Part through the underground to the Grammy's had come full circle.

Certainly an oversimplification but as the videos above show none of this should be taken too seriously. We aren't saving the world here, contrary to how many of us may feel when first discovering 'that sound' that takes us somewhere else.

Fear not though as for those of us with attentive enough ears know the underground is still alive and its pulse can be sensed wherever it may be found.

ESL

Lounge is a 'thing' now. Probably been a thing for a while truth be told, a thing before it was a thing if you will. Let's just say it's 'thing' enough that my daughter thinks I have good taste in music when it plays.

However, as with all 'things' it is easy to forget how fresh this type of lounge sounded when it first dropped 20 years ago.

To lighten up on the tone of the past few posts, this one sets a much different mood. Some good stuff to behold in these comps, well worth digging deeper into the various artists spread throughout these. No matter how many times this plays it sounds good, especially when indecisiveness rules and there is no particular mood.

This series also never fails to rise from the background - it's not meant to be played loud enough to take center stage - and anyone listening eventually finds themselves intoxicated by its mood.

And while we're at it, take a listen to this gem of a series taking you back to the 70s.

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ODrex Music - Twin Peetz and Moolsaasa

I continue to stumble across two artists whose music stands out from the din of dub/techno music that seems so omnipresent these days: Twin Peetz and Moolsaasa. It was the Broken Ventilator remixed album that started me on my way.

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Founded in 1994 by Twin Peetz, the ODrex Music netlabel is a treasure trove of musical adventure both for these two artists and, lately, more artists finding their way onto the roster.

A great intro to the label is the Indecent Exposures compilation currently on their Bandcamp page but they have various sublabels as well as many older releases to be found in the archives.

You can find Indecent Exposures here to get you started at a 'Name Your Price' offering. Show some love but get it while the gettings good as more and more of these sites are starting to monetize (rightfully so, especially when the music is good).

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A Tale Of The Rare, Greed And The Overpriced Resale Market For OOP CDs

Dropped some cash on a copy of this release (#010 of 110, blue bottom, 1 of 20 made) in pursuit of a bounty. 

Get it, pop it into EAC to rip away. Track 3 freezes and takes forever. A couple of hours later and it's done. Score a 45 out of a possible 100, suspicious positions in a few places. Mismatched CRCs. Confidence 1, AR v2.

Try a different computer. 45 out of 100. Come back home, do it on burst mode, score a 49 out of 100.

Nothing in the spectrals indicates detritus in the digital. Proceed to listen to it. Can't hear anything at the suspicious positions. Disc looks relatively clean, a few minor scratches. Clean it with a banana. Rip it again. Hang up at Track 3. Same spot. Then toothpaste. Hang up at Track 3. CUETools repair attempt. 0/2, no match. 

Get out the LED flash light and scrutinize the thing for a long, long time. Wouldn't you know it, there is a defect there underneath the surface, right where Track 3 would most likely be (reading inside out). 

Put it back in, put on the noise cancelling headphones, crank it up and there it is. Barely audible but there is some 'clicking' just under the surface. If you didn't have the log to point you to the place, you'd be hard pressed to hear it. Now I can't not hear it. 

Listen to the same track on this release, no noise. There is a v2 and a 320 out there, no noise. Dammit. The $50 for my record collection helped pay for this one. Reminds me of a song.

Anyhow, the guy I bought it from says he ripped it once to mp3 and didn't hear it, bought it for the collectibility factor. True or not, after his lame a** response - "maybe it's the equipment you are using" he says - I definitely would not recommend him to anyone (in fact, quite the opposite) for any purchases on discogs.

The seller he bought it from is a good seller on discogs I've used before but guaranteed he didn't do high level geek rip on it. Doesn't matter because I banana'd it. And toothpasted it. 

Reinforces why I hate CDs (especially CD-Rs) and why I have become friends with digital. Stop the overpriced resale market for CDs, especially junk CD-Rs such as this one. First time I've ever taken a loss in pursuit of bounty. OCD kicking in, must stop. I can stop. Really. 

P.S. 50 Grit sandpaper and a cement wall did not help it either. Now a limited edition of 109. 

Rave - Die Already

Upon hearing this news, it seemed fitting to post this.

On multiple levels - the fact that the show will even exist, the producer of the show and the network on which it will show - both of these album titles are apropos. 

It's the inevitable trajectory of all music styles - that against which music rebels consumes it in the end. 

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